The 2009 sedition case, under which Vaiko was sentenced, pertains to the seditious speech delivered by him during a book launch in Chennai at a time when the Sri Lankan civil war was at its peak

Chennai: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief V Gopalasamy or Vaiko on Friday was convicted in the 2009 sedition case. He was sentenced to one year in prison and Rs 10,000 by a special court in Chennai.

The case pertains to the seditious speech delivered by him during a book launch in Chennai at a time when the Sri Lankan civil war was at its peak. The MDMK chief gave a speech that was in support of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terror group.

The conviction comes at a time when the Vaiko was all set to return to the parliament after a hiatus of 15 years. Vaiko on Tuesday (July 2) was named the party’s candidate from Tamil Nadu for Rajya Sabha by polls on July 18. Although, MDMK does not have any MLAs to elect a Rajya Sabha member they were offered one seat by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as part of their alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The DMK swept the elections, winning 37 out of 38 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

He was charged for speaking against India's sovereignty during the launch of his book 'Naan Kuttram Saatugiren'. He was arrested by the J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government in 2002 under the anti-terror Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). He spent one year in jail in the case.

A special court headed by Judge J Shanthi pronounced him guilty on Friday. A petition was filed against the conviction enabling an appeal against the order after which the conviction sentence was stayed for one month.

Ironically, the case was filed by DMK with which the Vaiko's party has announced his candidature for Rajya Sabha. He was set to file his nomination on Saturday. A three-time Rajya Sabha member during his time in the DMK, Vaiko was elected two times from Sivaksi.

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